


382 Miles

by Alecto



Series: 5200 Miles To Go [7]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fictober 2019, Future Fic, Kaijou Week 2019, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Post-Canon, Relationship Negotiation, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:47:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21824644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alecto/pseuds/Alecto
Summary: Jounouchi carved 46 crescent scratches across Kaiba’s back—quarter-moon bruises rising over the pale horizon of his lover’s skin. He made one for each day the Pacific Ocean yawned between them.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto
Series: 5200 Miles To Go [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/7621
Comments: 6
Kudos: 61





	382 Miles

**Author's Note:**

> Fictober Day 20 prompt: “You could talk about it, you know?” x Kaijou Week Day 1 prompt: "long-distance"

Jounouchi carved 46 crescent scratches across Kaiba’s back—quarter-moon bruises rising over the pale horizon of his lover’s skin. He made one for each day the Pacific Ocean yawned between them. He sucked four love bites along Kaiba’s sternum to commemorate the number of days since they’d last video chatted. The marks that Kaiba’s grip tattooed along the crest of his hips would fade by the time Kaiba left for the airport in thirteen hours. 

Jounouchi curled his toes on Kaiba’s next thrust, arching his back to draw Kaiba even deeper. He reached back and fumbled to grip his headboard. There. That added bit of leverage had him seeing stars. 

Kaiba was a heavy and scorching weight pressing him into the mattress. His quiet grunts and groans echoed in painful contrast to the bustling traffic outside. A warm spring breeze blew through the open bedroom window, cooling the sweat pooled between their overheated bodies. The first few hours of their reunions were always like this: stolen moments they wished they could stretch into an eternity.

He would be sore for tomorrow’s shoot. But it would be so, so worth it.

Jounouchi still moved gingerly, with a deep and satisfying ache in his bones, when they finally left his condo hours later. His stomach growled, excited by the prospect of dinner. He slung an arm around Kaiba’s waist and pressed his cheek against Kaiba’s bony shoulder. “Hmmm, sex and Thai food. You sure know how to treat a guy right.”

Kaiba rolled his eyes but leaned into Jounouchi’s loose embrace as they walked. “You’re just easy.”

He considered shoving his boyfriend in retaliation, but he was far too comfortable to reintroduce any distance between them. There was already too much of it in their day-to-day lives. 

Los Angeles was a different world from Domino. People rarely stopped to gawk at Kaiba. Passersby were more likely to stare at Jounouchi. But he’d lived in this neighborhood for four years and celebrities were as commonplace in LA as new dieting trends. They both got their fair share of media attention when they came out as a couple last year, but that subsided on both sides of the Pacific after two months. One of the rare advantages of being in a long-distance relationship.

They completed the trip to the Thai restaurant two blocks over in silence, content to enjoy each other’s company without words. Mrs. Saae-Lim, the restaurant’s owner, lit up as soon as Jounouchi walked through the door.

“Joey, it’s been too long!” she beamed and took his arm.

“Been busy. I had to be in Toronto for a month.”

“Good, good, work hard.” Then she set her sights on Kaiba, eyes narrowing. Her voice was whip-sharp when she asked, “Is this him? Your boyfriend?”

“Seto Kaiba. Nice to meet you.” 

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. His boyfriend sounded anything but pleased, but at least he made the effort. 

Mrs. Saae-Lim wagged a finger in Kaiba’s face and admonished him as only a mother with four full-grown children who lived scattered across the continental US could. “You should visit more. Call more. Joey gets lonely.”

The declaration caused him to flush pink. It just made him sound so clingy and needy. Kaiba arched an eyebrow, and Jounouchi deflected the unspoken question with a shake of his head. “Take it easy on him, Mrs. Saae-Lim. You know he lives all the way in Japan.” 

She harrumphed but backed off. She called one of the waiters. “Lada, table for two.” 

Lada led them to a table in the back corner of the restaurant and handed them laminated menus. Jounouchi set his menu aside. He already knew what he was ordering from the moment they stepped through the door. A small tea light candle sat in the center of the table, casting dancing shadows across Kaiba’s face as he read the offerings. Taking advantage of the coverage provided by the tablecloth, he nudged his foot against Kaiba’s ankle and up his shin. When Kaiba shot him a halfhearted glare, Jounouchi responded with a cheeky smile. Lada soon returned with two glasses of iced water and took their orders with minimal fuss. 

Silence reigned over their table after the waitress left. Jounouchi leaned his shoulder against the dark wood walls, following Kaiba’s sharp gaze as he studied their surroundings. It was a Tuesday night, and they’d missed the dinner rush with their late arrival. A family of four seated near the front windows was almost finished with their meal. Two diners sat at the bar, nursing drinks and several plates of appetizers between them. Jounouchi returned his attention to the man across from him and found that Kaiba was now studying him.

He tapped Kaiba’s ankle again under the table. “Hey, what’s up?”

Kaiba lowered his gaze to the place setting in front of him. Slowly, he unfurled the folded napkin onto his lap before replying, “Nothing.”

Jounouchi frowned. Monosyllabic Kaiba wasn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes, it meant he was deep in thought about code or some other engineering problem. But other times, it meant he was stewing in something. Based on the pinched corners of Kaiba’s eyes and how he sat ramrod straight, it was the latter.

“C’mon, something’s definitely up,” he needled. “You could talk about it, you know? I’m always here to listen.”

Kaiba folded with a deep exhale that bled the severity from the tense set of his shoulders. He stared at Jounouchi. A slight frown marred his handsome features. “Was she right?”

“What?”

“Mrs. Saae-Lim. Was she right? Are you lonely?”

Jounouchi’s eyes darted to his ice water. He picked up the glass and sipped to buy himself a moment before answering. “Isn’t everyone a little lonely?” 

Admitting anything felt too similar to exposing his vulnerable underbelly. It was hard to go against an instinct honed over a lifetime.

Kaiba’s lips thinned at his deflection. “Has our relationship grown stale then?”

“No!” objected Jounouchi, furiously shaking his head. “Course not. Yeah, I get lonely sometimes, but there’s nothing we can do about it. Long-distance’s never easy. It’s not like either of us has a predictable schedule. If you’re not traveling for KaibaCorp or tournaments, I’m flying to Atlanta or Toronto for filming. But this is what we chose, right?”

He reached across the table to take Kaiba’s hand and intertwined their fingers. Kaiba returned the squeeze with a slight tremor in his hand. 

Jounouchi broke into a hesitant smile. “Besides, we’re pretty lucky. You got the San Francisco branch as an excuse, or we’d see even less of each other.”

Chairs scraped against the floor as the family of four rose from their table and headed for the exit. Laughter sounded from the two diners at the bar. An ice cube clinked inside his glass. Kaiba’s gaze lingered on their interwoven hands. His eyes were dark and contemplative.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Kaiba finally said.

Jounouchi startled but didn’t extract his hand from Kaiba’s tightening grip. “Whaddaya mean?” 

Was Kaiba asking him to move back to Domino? What about his career? Jounouchi left Domino more than a decade ago to make a name for himself and prove his mettle. He still felt like he hadn’t achieved what he set out to do. As much as he missed his sister and Yuugi and everyone else, he wasn’t ready to leave LA. Not yet. But someday.

Kaiba ran his thumb across Jounouchi’s inner wrist. The tension inside Jounouchi’s unwound but didn’t dissipate. “San Francisco is still five, six hours away, but it’s significantly closer than Domino. We would be in the same time zone.” 

His jaw dropped. Kaiba spoke like it was an idle observation. But Jounouchi knew better. This couldn’t be the first time Kaiba had thought about it. So not Jounouchi moving back to Japan, but Kaiba living in America on a more permanent basis? 

“What about KaibaCorp? What about Mokuba?” he asked while furrowing his brow.

“As you pointed out, there’s the branch office in San Francisco. Given today’s telecommunication technology, I can work remotely from almost anywhere in the world with an internet connection. As for Mokuba, he’s an adult now. He doesn’t want his boring older brother hovering about all the time.”

Jounouchi laughed at the vague look of offense on Kaiba’s face. “Well, Mokuba’s right. You are boring.”

Kaiba pinched his forearm, but his gaze remained soft.

“You serious though? You’d move to the states?” Jounouchi’s head spun, high on elation and a touch of fear. “What about the other way around? Me moving back to Japan?”

Kaiba hummed. “I considered it. But of the two of us, I’m in the more flexible position to do so as someone firmly established in my career. They can’t fire me. Although, it would be interesting if they tried. And it wouldn’t be forever. Five years at most? I’m confident you’ll be ready to follow me home soon enough.”

Jounouchi’s heart hammered wildly. Home. No matter if his star rose or fell in the future, he would still have a home waiting for him. After all, Kaiba never made promises he wasn’t hellbent on keeping. 

Later that night, Jounouchi pressed wet kisses to fading marks as Kaiba gave him new ones counting down the days to when they would be together again.


End file.
